Car was driven with no oil for who knows how long…….. am I screwed?
Posted by dranikinskywalker@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 44 comments
Took my car in for an oil change today and they made me sign a waiver because it had no oil. This is the first time this has ever happened to me.
I was pretty shocked. I’m usually good at keeping my car well maintained. Do you think there was enough oil left in the engine that I’m okay?
It sounds fine but I realize that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I’ve been driving it for a good 2 weeks around town for 5-10 minutes at most.
Has anyone else had this happened and their car turned out okay?
eniacs@reddit
This happened to me today I had the oil light come on and off this morning taking the misses to work so I checked once home the dipstick had a single drop at the very bottom so I walked to the shops nearby and bought oil 2 bottles it drank both then I checked the stick again and it's just under full now
Took it for a few laps around the block to help it circulate abit but got lucky as the warning light only popped up for a second then went off again.
rudbri93@reddit
no oil on the dipstick or none at all? did your low oil pressure light/warning ever come on?
Dear_Tale_5969@reddit
No I wAS DELIVRIES FOR WORK AND 2 HOUSES BEFORE MY APARTMENT IN ROLLED IN SOME LIGHTS CAM ON
dranikinskywalker@reddit (OP)
No warning but the check engine light came on 2 days before I took it in.
rudbri93@reddit
Then you may have gotten lucky. Check your oil level at every fuel fillup for a couple weeks and see if its dropping.
dranikinskywalker@reddit (OP)
Thank you will do!!
ZephyrStudios686@reddit
What kind of car is it? There may be a special way to check the oil. For example, Ford 2.7L Ecoboost engines require sitting for 15 minutes because the oil sits in the top of the head for so long that if you shut it off and check it immediately, it won't read at all.
dranikinskywalker@reddit (OP)
Apologies on the late reply but it’s a Dodge Avenger
ghostoftomjoad69@reddit
None on the dipstick means im down a qt. Ive had this happen before.
No oil, the car will lose lubrication and cease to function, and ull know it when it happens.
Fill it with oil and see what happens.
Dice_K@reddit
Yeah, come on OP this detail matters.
SpecialistShot5300@reddit
My 2014 Audi kept showing low oil indicator, and the dealership told me that my hood latch was broken, triggering the light to come on. They stated that Audis run sensors through the hood latch so until I get that replaced, I would see a false oil pressure light. Well actually I had an oil leak and was driving on low / no oil for a long time (Oct-Dec) My engine failed. It took three shops to diagnose my car. Apparently they said the engine is ok but a lot of other parts needed to be replaced totaling in $1K. I am wondering if I should just walk away from it after months of unrelated issues and thousands of dollars in repairs before this incident.
SmellyPubes69@reddit
Fucking hell people are on this sub, some of the shit boxes I owned years ago didn't have any oil showing on dipstick and had been driven for c100 miles before I realised. I never had an oil related issue with them.
Obviously it's important cars have the right amount of oil but there are some drama queens on here really, a decent car will be able to hold its own for a small amount of time.
shastadakota@reddit
My wife took a road trip in her 2002 Toyota Highlander to visit her mother. When she got home she went to bed. When I got home from work she woke up and said that the oil light was on. I asked when it came on. She replied about a hundred miles from home. I asked why she didn't stop and get oil. She said she was "tired and just wanted to get home". 🤯 I checked the dipstick-nothing. I started pouring in oil. It took 5 quarts. The PCV valve was stuck and just sucked the oil out. Took out the 02 sensors, but the car started and otherwise was fine. That was in 2010. It is still running in 2024. Toyota.
overheightexit@reddit
No oil? None at all? Engines usually last a matter of seconds with no oil at all.
rampas_inhumanas@reddit
But hey, no matter how badly it blows up, the wrist pins will be mint and ready for reinstall. So, there's that.
overheightexit@reddit
This has been proven on the YouTube.
CarCounsel@reddit
If true, ticking time bomb. Exit safely while you can.
SmallestWheel@reddit
Take it from one. ☝️
CarCounsel@reddit
Hey @moderators can we look into the harassment here? Is he banned for 60 days yet?
CarCounsel@reddit
Saw his comments. Not true, @mods. The reverse is. Like Trump he tends to gaslight and project.
sixtwomidget@reddit
I had an old F-150 with the 5.0L V8. I was about 30 miles from home when it started knocking like crazy. Got home and it was completely out of oil. Changed the oil and it ran like a top for at least another five years.
wathappen@reddit
I heard anecdotal stories of toyota engines running out of oil, stalling, but still functioning after a top up. But it’s generally not recommended
mijoelgato@reddit
Sell it, yesterday.
OnlyCommentWhenTipsy@reddit
Did you find out why there wasn't oil or is it going to happen again?
CAStrash@reddit
No oil at all, or just none on the dipstick ?
Because low on the dipstick is about 1 L shy of the right amount on some cars.
If you drove with no oil, you should have had a oil pressure warning light and the engine is likely ruined... You would need to drive and see how it is.
Low_Sprinkles_7561@reddit
I’m guessing that they saw little or no oil come out of the fine as it was in for an oil change. The don’t check the dipstick before they drain it .
kyson1@reddit
A lot of chains check the dipstick before draining...
Low_Sprinkles_7561@reddit
It was Walmart. They probably don’t check the dipstick after they fill it.
dranikinskywalker@reddit (OP)
I forgot to ask them if it was no oil at all or just none showing on the dipstick. I called a few minutes ago and they don’t remember….. yay. I took it to Walmart lol.
It’s driving okay for now but I didn’t get a low oil warning. My check engine light did come on a few days before I took it in.
I’ve had some electrical issues with it in the past so I’m assuming a sensor isn’t working like it should.
ZdzisiuFryta@reddit
Random thoughts: check for any drips or puddles. Go to sleep and check tomorrow I guess?
Masterhaze710@reddit
Dip stick was probably dry and they said it had no oil. If you had no oil in it, it probably would have blown up. Although it is possible it was bone dry, it’s unlikely imo.
I’d assume the oil pressure gauge is working and didn’t come up because it wasn’t low enough.
angrycanadianguy@reddit
So, this isn’t representative of all cars, and definitely don’t do it intentionally, but it took this guy running it with the oil pan removed to kill the engine. The residual oil kept it going for a stupid amount of time.
tony22233@reddit
Know your cars oil consumption.
Beartrkkr@reddit
If no oil came out you would have cooked the motor. Monitor closely and see how much oil needs to be added and when. If you are constantly having to add oil on a very regular basis you need to start looking for another car.
SOTG_Duncan_Idaho@reddit
If there was literally NO oil, your car would not have made it to the shop. Engines with no oil are destroyed in seconds, and it's very obvious (grinding, smoke, loss of power, engine totally fails).
They probably meant there was no oil on the dipstick. Check your oil every single fill up, and keep a couple quarts of the proper oil (plus funnel, rags and gloves) in the car.
If this is the first time this has happened, it was probably an improperly filled engine at the last change, but it could also just be the engine burning oil or you may have developed a leak. Check under the car where you park for fresh oil drippings. If you have a garage or parking spot put a clean piece of cardboard or similar if there are already lots of stains on the ground.
series_hybrid@reddit
With or without oil, the compression is relatively easy to test and its a reasonable indicator of wear. If the oil pressure warning light was not on, and the engine still ran, its like you had maybe one quart in the sump, instead of the 4-5 quarts that a full oil-pan is designed for.
All I can say is toy put in the right kind of oil until it reads the correct level on the dipstick, then drive it. If the engine is totally f*ckt, then driving it a little to evaluate will not make it any worse. If there is no damage, you dodged a bullet.
The fact that it starts means that it likely has the minimum amount of compression to run, and even if its damaged, you may have some time to figure out the next move. Its possible you took a car with ten years left on the engine, and scrubbed the metal-to-metal parts enough that it now has one year left.
ZdzisiuFryta@reddit
If there were some leftovers, then ask them do oil check, how much particles, especially metal ones are there... It's not gonna tell you the whole story but big approximation. Without that, it's pretty random. Engine may last another 200k or it may break after 300.
Raivnholm@reddit
So long as the engine doesn't sound any different you haven't done catastrophic damage. Check for leaks and keep it topped up and will probably be fine.
Badenguy@reddit
As long as it sounds ok it’s ok, I mean damage done, carry on, can’t fix it. It might need a thicker viscosity from now on, worn rings or seals means space for oil to seep out, check it like weekly now.
DizzyCommunication92@reddit
I would have question how much oil "did" come out....if any at all....cause typically the dip stick measures 1 qt low when you hit the "add" line at the bottom of the dip stick.....and this has held true from many of Mt cars lol....Kia Rio, dodge Aries K car.
But it's simply a waiver cause they don't know how much oil will come out so I know when I worked in the shop we had the same policy....we'd have a lot of incidents where they'd drop their car off, and then we'd get tl their car and ya....dry dip stick lol....so they would have to come back to get the waiver approved and signed
ColoradoFrench@reddit
Bad news
bouttohopintheshower@reddit
I betcha they didn't want liability of the car (for any number of reasons all of which are strange) and made up a story saying you had to sign a waiver because of no oil.
Sanpaku@reddit
Some modern motor oils (esp full synthetics) are much better at adhering to moving parts than the oils of my youth (in the 70s and 80s).
Once I had a high mileage BMW (E21) that burned a quart of oil every tank of gas. No leaks to pavement, it was expelling oil into the combustion chamber through a bad piston ring. As a poor college student, keeping qts of oil in the trunk was cheaper than an engine rebuild.
OPs engine may be fine, or it may have lots of unnecessary wear. The low oil condition was probably much longer than two weeks. If there aren't large oil spots when parked, it's probably burning through oil at a high rate, perhaps through bad piston rings, like mine. OP may still have tens of thousands of miles left before an engine rebuild, but I would check oil levels at every fill up, and keeping some quarts in the trunk.
longhairedcountryboy@reddit
Was the oil light on?